It has become common practice to power small boats and canoes, particularly those used for fishing freshwater lakes, ponds and streams, by electric trolling motors which are powered by a rechargeable storage battery. Though such motors vary widely in type and design, a common type comprises a support column, a submersible motor-and-propeller unit mounted at one end of the support column, and a housing secured to the other end of the support column, suitable means being provided for securing the support column to the boat or canoe in vertical position, with the motor-and-propeller unit near or below the bottom of the boat or canoe and the housing located above the gunnels. Electrical leads run through the support column to the housing, and switch means are carried by the housing for controlling motor speed and selecting between forward and reverse. External electrical leads extend from the housing for connection to the storage battery.
The housings of such motors are provided with a short handle by which the entire motor can be turned about the axis of the support column for steering, and it is possible to mount the motor in such fashion that the handle, though short, can be reached by a person occupying a seat in the boat or canoe. But the short handle usually provided on such trolling motors is frequently not adequate. Thus, in the case of a canoe occupied by only one person, as is frequently the case when fishing, it is necessary either to provide frontal ballast or to have the single occupant in a position forward of the rear seat and, in the latter case, it is difficult to reach the standard short handle of the trolling motor. In the case of so-called "bass boats", which are larger and more stable that a canoe, the trolling motor is often mounted on the bow and is therefore in a location so far forward of the front seat of the boat that the usual short handle cannot easily be reached by one occupying the front seat. In the case of bass boats and other small outboard motor boats, it is also desirable to be able to steer the boat when standing, as well as when seated, and the short handles usually provided on electric trolling motors cannot be reached conveniently by one standing in the boat. Accordingly, prior-art workers have provided auxiliary steering arms of various types, as seen for example in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,903,903, Jaromy; 2,926,544, Carmichael; 3,174,357, Conklin; 3,274,849, Hanson; 3,456,525, Oldham; 3,955,438, Zakrzewski. However, though considerable attention has been given to the problem, there has been a continuing demand for improvement.